Reverse Video Reference of Walking

Although I knew this would be challenging, it was more difficult and time-consuming than I had anticipated! The most challenging part was to coordinate and replicate all the overlapping motions. However, I tried my best and took several takes. Below are the best videos of all four.

The Law of Physics in an Animation Universe

Howl’s Moving Castle is a Japanese animation film that tells the story of a meek, young woman named Sophie who embarks on a magical journey that changes (literally) her life. When she goes to visit her sister one day, she runs into the notoriously handsome wizard Howl. She becomes entangled in his escape from the Witch of Waste's henchmen. As a result, the wicked Witch pays Sophie a visit in her hat shop and casts a curse over her, transforming her into a 90 year old woman. From this brief summary alone, we can understand that the universe created in Howl's Moving Castle is one of magic and wonder in what seems to be our world; therefore, it bends the laws of physics of our earth in many moments, yet observing them in others. This contortion of our sense of physics through out the film adds emphasis and interest, contributing to the effects of magic. This paper will attempt to observe specific aspects of the physics in the film, namely the inconsistent observance of gravity and inertia as well as the unbalanced (or lack of) reactions to an action or force.

One of the laws of physics the film tends to play with is gravity. Although the gravitational force in the film's universe tends to be similar to ours, it is sometimes less, although not in consistent settings. Its force on people and objects tend to be less compared to reality, which create this feeling of weightlessness and magic. However, this is not limited to magicians and enchanted items, as "normal" people are found defying gravity throughout the film as well, which is probably an effect utilized to emphasize emotions, movements, and key moments. For example, the audience often finds that characters' hair floats up and hangs in the air, longer than is able in our physical world. Specific moments include the times when Sophie's emotions are heightened (either she is really angry, surprised, or happy) and the scene zooms in on her face. During these scenes her hair is seen floating upwards on its own, without any gravitational force acting upon it. However, in other scenes when she is running, for example, her hair moves up and down at a regular pace, as if our gravity is acting upon it.

The varying force of the gravity in Howl's Moving Castle may also be observed through the falling of people and objects. One specific example comes from the scene in which Howl and Sophie are escaping from a battle ship at a flower field. Howl morphs into some sort of bird, grabs Sophie, and they both fly off. Then, he takes her a safe distance away from the enemy ship and drops her to the ground. In this scene, she falls for 49 frames from the apex, meaning a fall of about 65 feet at 44 mph. However, using the items in the background as reference, she is only moving about 7 to 15 inches per frame, which means she is actually falling at a rate of 10 to 20 mph at this supposed height. Therefore, the force of gravity here must be significantly less than ours for her to be falling at such a rate and height (the audience will find this a good aspect of the film's gravity because if she were to have really fallen at 44 mph with our gravitational force, mortality rate would be quite high). 

In yet another scene, Sophie travels to Howl's childhood and finds him catching a falling star. Counting the frames from where the star is first seen falling up to the frame where it lands in Howl's hands, the fall is approximately 100 feet. If the gravitational force in the film's universe was like ours, the star should be falling at about 55 mph. However, further speculation yields that it is only falling about 5 to 10 mph. Using young Howl's height of 5 feet as reference, the star is only falling about 5 to 7 inches per frame in their world; thus, it is falling about a consistent 5 to 10 mph from 100 feet. This characterizes the light force of gravity that is sometimes present in the film's universe.



-Witch of the Waste (about 500 pounds) flies through Sophie at approximately 35-40 mph (traveling 25-30 inches per frame), yet Sophie (110 pounds) remains standing

-Like stated earlier in the flower field scene Howl’s past, the star falls but Howl has almost no reaction to the force, almost just stands there in same position.

-Sophie’s braids, howl’s hair in bed long,
-Flower scene – clothing and hair flows in the wind so slowly, like floating in water, sense of calmness
-Howl’s past – Sophie is surprised and hair floats up and it hangs in the air for over 3 seconds – floating; but, in the scene before that when she is running her moves and falls at regular speed


Deviations from the original outline:

a.       Bending of gravity to create a feeling of magic and weightlessness as well as to emphasize actions

                                                               i.      The moving castle is seemingly heavy, as it is composed of mixed industrial materials, and yet it is supported by four thin legs

                                                             ii.      Witch of the Waste is a large woman, yet is carried almost effortlessly throughout the film by two human-shaped globs (which are proven to be quite light and weak when attacked)

                                                            iii.      When Howl reads the cursed spell on the dining table, a sinister air surrounds him and his hair magically floats upward on its own, without any noticeable force acting upon it

                                                           iv.      Whenever Howl and Sophie jump into the air, their hang time is too long and the spacing of their fall is off, which allows them to fall gently back to the ground

                                                             v.      In the scene where Sophie and the dog fall in mid-air as they switch dimensions, the dog falls faster than Sophie, even though he fell after her and weighs less (defying air resistance)

b.      Unbalanced reactions to force

                                                               i.      In the scene where Sophie first meets turnip head in the Wastelands, the wind blowing them (the force) is great, as Sophie struggles to move against it; however, turnip head stands beside her seemingly unaffected even though he his significantly lighter

                                                             ii.      The Witch of the Waste flies through Sophie at a high speed, and although Sophie reacts to the force by moving backwards, she should have actually accelerated back much further considering the witch’s heavy weight and the speed at which she flew

c.       Inertia and exaggerated follow-throughs for emphasis

                                                               i.      When Howl turns his head around to face Sophie, his hair’s follow-through is slow and long, as if his hair was floating

                                                             ii.      Soldier from Kingsbury’s cape follows through as he turns away from Markel, but it is slow and continues to float around him

                                                            iii.      Sophie’s dress follows through after she exists the door back into the present, but it is somewhat delayed and drags considerably far for the speed at which she was moving

III.                Conclusion

a.       Restate thesis

b.      Summarize main points

c.       Last thoughts

Outline of First Term Paper: Law of Physics in the Universe of Howl’s Moving Castle

Outline: Law of Physics in the Universe of Howl’s Moving Castle

I.                    Introduction

a.       Summary: A meek young woman named Sophie is cursed and transformed into an old lady by the wicked Witch of the Waste after encountering the handsome, yet childish, wizard Howl.

b.      Present hypotheses:

                                                               i.      Bending of gravity

                                                             ii.      Unbalanced effects of force

                                                            iii.      Acknowledgement of inertia, but exaggerated follow-throughs (drag)

c.       Thesis

II.                  Body

a.       Bending of gravity to create a feeling of magic and weightlessness as well as to emphasize actions

                                                               i.      The moving castle is seemingly heavy, as it is composed of mixed industrial materials, and yet it is supported by four thin legs

                                                             ii.      Witch of the Waste is a large woman, yet is carried almost effortlessly throughout the film by two human-shaped globs (which are proven to be quite light and weak when attacked)

                                                            iii.      When Howl reads the cursed spell on the dining table, a sinister air surrounds him and his hair magically floats upward on its own, without any noticeable force acting upon it

                                                           iv.      Whenever Howl and Sophie jump into the air, their hang time is too long and the spacing of their fall is off, which allows them to fall gently back to the ground

                                                             v.      In the scene where Sophie and the dog fall in mid-air as they switch dimensions, the dog falls faster than Sophie, even though he fell after her and weighs less (defying air resistance)

b.      Unbalanced reactions to force

                                                               i.      In the scene where Sophie first meets turnip head in the Wastelands, the wind blowing them (the force) is great, as Sophie struggles to move against it; however, turnip head stands beside her seemingly unaffected even though he his significantly lighter

                                                             ii.      The Witch of the Waste flies through Sophie at a high speed, and although Sophie reacts to the force by moving backwards, she should have actually accelerated back much further considering the witch’s heavy weight and the speed at which she flew

c.       Inertia and exaggerated follow-throughs for emphasis

                                                               i.      When Howl turns his head around to face Sophie, his hair’s follow-through is slow and long, as if his hair was floating

                                                             ii.      Soldier from Kingsbury’s cape follows through as he turns away from Markel, but it is slow and continues to float around him

                                                            iii.      Sophie’s dress follows through after she exists the door back into the present, but it is somewhat delayed and drags considerably far for the speed at which she was moving

III.                Conclusion

a.       Restate thesis

b.      Summarize main points

c.       Last thoughts